The Most Historically Luxurious Hotels

By Amy Tara Koch, Mens Journal

Finding a posh hotel? Easy. But if you're hunting for digs that offer more than just high-thread- count sheets and state-of-the-art amenities, check in to these luxury lodgings with some history. These eight properties have been nipped, tucked, and reimagined to wow the modern traveler.

Credit: Courtesy Hotel Del Coronado

The Goring, London

Its red-liveried footmen, acclaimed afternoon tea, and chintz-festooned walls embody London swank. But it’s the royal lineage that elevates this Belgravia hotel from London’s luxury lairs. The five-star Goring is still owned and operated by the family who built it in 1910. A favorite of high society (think Lords, Ladies, Dukes, and Duchesses; William and Kate famously stayed in the Royal Suite the night before their wedding), it’s the only hotel in the world to hold the Royal Warrant, a mark of distinction bestowed upon the Crown’s preferred goods and services. The hotel closed in 2015 for the first time (it even remained open during both world wars) for “top to toe” upgrades. The result is sumptuous and decidedly traditional. Book a Belgravia Suite overlooking the Goring Garden. All furnishings are bespoke, including quintessentially British Gainsborough Silks wall coverings.

Credit: Courtesy The Goring

Kulm Hotel, St. Moritz

Talk about prestige. Kulm Hotel was the first hotel erected in the storied “champagne climate” playground of St. Moritz and credited with birthing alpine tourism in the 1880s. On top of establishing the city’s curling and tobogganing clubs, first ice run for skeleton sports, and the Olympic Bob run (which is still used today), the Kulm Park hosted the winter Olympics opening ceremonies in 1928 and 1948. The humble edifice was recently upgraded to maintain a perfect balance of tradition and modernity. Still, you can expect to rub (mink-clad) shoulders and “take the waters” (the property has a killer spa) with royalty, business tycoons, aristocrats, and oligarchs.

Credit: Courtesy Kulm Hotel

St. Regis, New York City

Sure it was home away from home for Alfred Hitchcock, Marlene Dietrich, Ethel Merman, Babe and William Paley, and Bing Crosby, but John Jacob Astor IV and his mother positioned their Beaux Arts Grand Dame as ground zero for high society back in 1905. Today, you won’t see Salvatore Dali lunching with his pet ocelot. But, post recent renovations, the hotel’s Waterford chandeliers, crown moldings, bronze lobby letter boxes, marble fireplaces, gilded revolving doors, and ornate ‘SR’ emblazoned metal grates in guest rooms still lend Gilded Age allure.

Credit: Courtesy St. Regis

Ashford Castle, Ireland

If the notion of vacationing on the very grounds frequented by King George V, Oscar Wilde, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, and Princess Grace is appealing, then book this 13th century Anglo Norman castle in Western Ireland. On top of sumptuous, just-revamped accommodations, your Game of Thrones–inspired experience will involve boating in the Lough Corrib and partaking in “leisure pursuits” such as archery and falconry.

Credit: Getty Images

Hotel Del Coronado, San Diego

Since 1888, “The Del” has been coastal catnip for A-listers who demand glamour with their ocean view. Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson filmed on the beach. Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, Doris Day, and Groucho Marx were also frequent guests, and even Liberace was discovered while tickling the hotel ivories in 1950. Thanks to a $13 million overhaul, this national historic landmark is now equipped with 21st-century amenities, even trendy workouts like Mermaid Fitness. To amp up the luxury quotient, book a beach villa.

Credit: Courtesy Hotel Del Coronado

Vendue, Charleston, South Carolina

Back in the 1780s this stylish 84-room hotel was a series of warehouses that also lodged transient sea captains. Now, the self-described “art hotel” melds past and present with original exposed brick, hardwood floors, and a 300-plus collection of paintings and sculptures scattered throughout the space. Each room is distinct, some boasting a fireplace and sitting room.

Credit: Courtesy Vendue

Gray Hotel, Chicago

From the street, The Gray is easy to miss because its turn-of-the-century facade blends so effortlessly into the architectural fabric of the Chicago Loop. But after ascending the grand marble staircase (it’s the original gray granite that inspired the hotel’s name) to the lobby, Kimpton’s slick transformation of William Le Baron Jenney’s New York Life Insurance Building is apparent. Public spaces are sophisticated, a melange of landmark charm and modernist details. Rooms are airy, punctuated with texture and a world class art collection, and wrap-around bookshelves brim with old law volumes discovered during renovation. Tip: Have a cocktail in the Vol. 39 bar.

Credit: Courtesy Gray Hotel

Pulitzer Hotel, Amsterdam

The revamped Pulitzer Amsterdam, a series of interconnecting 17th-century canal houses tucked into the fashionable Nine Streets neighborhood, oozes the nouvelle elegance of this quirky-cool city. Airy and bright, vintage objets d'art figure heavily into a design scheme best described as Golden Age meets five-star hipster. No two rooms are the same in size or decor but all tap into the historical verve of the property. Reserve the Book Collectors Suite, a riff on the city’s literary heritage. The sitting room is a private library equipped with a canal-facing writers’ desk, a vintage typewriter, a leather easy chair, and the requisite drinks trolley. Through a fanciful arch of vintage books is the bedroom where a bicycle (because, why not?) floats above the room, an artful reminder of Dutch adventures to come. Make sure to organize a tour in the hotel’s teak and brass canal boat, a relic from 1909.